Nick Peers

Vivaldi Technologies has unveiled the first beta of its new web browser for power users with the release of Vivaldi Beta. The aim of Vivaldi is to give users unparalleled control over their web browsing experience, and has been developed by a team led by Opera’s co-founder, Jon S von Tetzchner.

The alpha releases have been downloaded by more than two million early adopters, but this first beta release is aimed at general users, and among its new features are support for Chrome extensions and web panels.

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Mozilla has made Firefox 42 FINAL available for download ahead of its official release, with Firefox 42 for Android due to follow later this week.

Both builds implement a new Tracking Protection feature to tighten web privacy, while the desktop version adds a new Control Center. Android users also gain a number of new features, including a login manager and the ability to queue up links from other apps.

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WinZip International LLC has released WinZip 20, a landmark release of what is perhaps the world’s best-known archiving tool. Version 20 builds on changes introduced in version 19 that saw the app move towards a unified file management system.

WinZip 20 introduces a new file management ribbon and frequent folders feature, plus makes working with files and folders more flexible while also widening its sharing options.

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The XBMC Foundation has unveiled Kodi 15.2, a maintenance update of its open-source, cross-platform media center. This is the second release since version 15 debuted back in July.

The major focus of the new release is to improve stability on the Android platform, but there are numerous other bug fixes implemented in what Team Kodi has dubbed "The Final Chapter" in its release notes.

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Microsoft has released new versions for the three core apps in its iPad and iPhone Office suite. Word for iOS 1.14, Excel for iOS 1.14, and PowerPoint for iOS 1.14 all gain minor improvements and new features as part of the suite’s ongoing evolution.

All three apps gain the ability to rename files, while there are improvements to font accessibility and a number of app-specific improvements too.

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Google has rolled out YouTube for iOS 10.38 for iPhone and iPad. Despite the minor version number revision, the new app sports a major facelift, plus new in-app editing controls.

The new look sports a minimalist interface with just three major navigation buttons: Home, Subscriptions, and Account. Users can tap or swipe to move between the various sections.

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Google has unveiled updates to its Google Maps for iOS and Google Maps for Android apps. The big news in this latest release is the addition of support for the Apple Watch on the iOS platform.

Both Android and iOS users also gain additional new features including support for comparing ETAs across a range of transit options, plus the ability to generate directions and call businesses directly from a list of places.

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The latest version of OS X -- El Capitan -- is just days away now, and the excitement is building. But before you plunge in and install it, what happens if something goes horribly wrong with the new install? You might be able to roll things back with Time Machine, but Belight Software has an alternative.

Belight wants you to start using its three-pronged backup solution Get Backup Pro instead -- and to tempt you into switching, it’s offering a free license for the Pro version, worth $19.95 -- but hurry, you’ve only got around 48 hours left to grab it!

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Piriform Software has released CCleaner 5.10 and CCleaner 5.10 Portable for Windows PCs, along with CCleaner for Mac 1.10.

Both builds focus on browser improvements, while PC users gain faster start-up times and improvements to the program’s support for window and DPI resizing.

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Mozilla has released Firefox 41 FINAL for desktop, with Firefox for Android 41.0 due imminently.

The desktop build introduces a large number of mainly incremental changes – the most interesting are profile picture support for Firefox Accounts and the addition of instant messaging to Firefox Hello -- while the mobile version makes it possible to utilize different search providers from the search panel.

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Opera Software has unveiled Opera 32 FINAL, a new release of its desktop browser for Windows, Mac and Linux, with an Android update due to follow.

Version 32 is another build light on major new features, with the company keen to promote its recent acquisition of the SurfEasy VPN service. What has been added is password sync, a new view for bookmarks and support for animated background themes.

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Oracle has released VirtualBox 5.0.4, the first publicly flagged maintenance release for the 5.0 series of its virtualization tool for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Version 5.0 introduced support for USB 3.0 and hardware virtualization among other improvements, and version 5.0.4 is almost exclusively a bug-fix update.

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Microsoft has rolled out a major refresh of its Skype mobile apps with the release of Skype for iPhone 6.0, Skype for iPad 6.0 and Skype for Android 6.0.

All three apps come with a redesign aimed at making them easier to use as well as improved search tools. iPad users also gain all iPhone features, while Android users also benefit from some platform-specific improvements.

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The Windows Club has released Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4.0 for Windows 10 users. The lightweight, portable freeware tool makes it easy to tweak various aspects of Windows that usually hidden away or require access to Registry editor or Group Policy Editor.

The new release sits alongside the previous versions, Ultimate Windows Tweaker 3.1.2 for Windows 8/8/1 and Ultimate Windows Tweaker 2.2, which requires Windows Vista or 7.

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Parallels IP Holdings GmbH has released Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac, a major new release of its market-leading virtualization tool.

The app, which allows users to run virtual versions of Windows, OS X and Linux in a virtual environment, adds full support for Windows 10 while readying itself for El Capitan’s imminent release. It also promises significant performance improvements.

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